Planet X London Road

bendertherobot

I'm seriously considering the flat bar model as my winter commuting bike.

Smiffo100

What do people think to the bike who have had Shimano previously? I'm currently debating whether to splash out an additional £100 on a full 105 build...

veronese68

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19636789#p19636789]bendertherobot[/url] wrote:

I'm seriously considering the flat bar model as my winter commuting bike.

Because you don't have enough cross type bikes?

bendertherobot

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19637570#p19637570]Veronese68[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19636789#p19636789]bendertherobot[/url] wrote:

I'm seriously considering the flat bar model as my winter commuting bike.

Because you don't have enough cross type bikes?

The Bivio would make way for it. So, 2 "disc" and one flat bar.

Frazer1985

So after reading a number of posts and receiving recommendations from people I am contemplating getting one in Zesty Lime as my first commuter as I am currently using my MTB but want to increase my mileage to build up fitness levels.

Before I jump in and buy one I have just a few questions:

1) Is the bike suitable for a 50+ mile ride? Is there a maximum distance you are able ride on this type of bike?

2) How have people found the sizing? My RockRider 8.1 MTB is a medium which I find a good fit for me at 5ft 7

3) What is the difference between - http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXLDNRIV/planet-x-london-road-sram-rival-22-road-bike & http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXLDNRIVHRD/planet-x-london-road-sram-rival-22-hydraulic-disc-road-bike (apart from £200)

Please excuse my total lack of knowledge but I have only been cycling for about 10 months so I am still very new to the scene.

Adamgt

Hi Frazer.

The bike is suitable for as many miles as you want to ride on it. There's no reason why it wouldn't be, it's a road bike, albeit with some hybrid/cross features. You can do 50 miles on a MTB if you like! I regularly do 30-40 mile rides on mine and it's more comfortable than the CAAD8 and Allez I've had previously, that was the main aim for me. If my body would do it I'm sure I would do 100 miles on it

Sizing, I have a Large and I'm 5ft11. Maybe a medium would suit me but I am at that 'in-between' height.

The difference between the 2 bikes you linked to are that the more expensive one has hydraulic brakes, not mechanical. If I had the money then I would go hydraulic, £200 is a cheap upgrade.

staffo

I'm 5'6 and ride a small with a 110mm stem. I reckon a small would definitely be ok, medium possibly.

Frazer1985

Thanks for the advice Adamgt and staffo.

I might pop in at some point to try for size then get one on order at the same time.

staffo - What size handlebars do you have on yours? 42cm?

staffo

Yeah, 42cm bars on mine. They're nice bars, very similar to the FSA Omega compacts I have on my other bikes but without the slight flare out from the tops.

Frazer1985

Thanks I will have a look properly over the weekend.

garnett

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19637224#p19637224]Smiffo100[/url] wrote:

What do people think to the bike who have had Shimano previously? I'm currently debating whether to splash out an additional £100 on a full 105 build...

My other bike is 105. Would you be going hydraulic?

For me the sram hydraulic discs are a revelation. Combined with the big tyres braking is much better.

The Sram gearing works well and seems precise and quiet. Until you change gear. It's a proper "kerrr - chunk". It surprised me coming from the "snick-snick-snick" of 105.

I have read that Shimano's hydraulics are the best.

If you can build this around Shimano hydraulics and 105 for £100 more I would definitely do that.

graeme_s-2

I'm happy with the SRAM gears so far, having only ridden Shimano before. I've been jokingly describing the bike as feeling a bit agricultural compared to the various road bikes I've owned in the past, and I think the kerr-chunk of the SRAM gears adds to that, although in some ways I quite like the really positive no-nonsense mechanical action of them.

I'm not sure I'd bother paying an extra £100 for shimano, but then I'd probably want to ride the bike fitted with 105 to compare it properly. I've also read the the shimano hydraulic brakes are supposed to be better, but coming from rim brakes the SRAM hydraulics are absolutely amazing.

PhilPub

OK, now Planet X are confusing me by knocking out Kaffenbacks at a ridiculous price! (650 quid for SRAM Apex/AVID BB7 mechanical disc build.) Considering I ride steel for my Sunday best ride and I want a second bike as a winter/tourer which might get thrown around a bit, are there still any obvious reasons why the London Road is a better option? I can't see a massive difference between SRAM Rival and Apex, and the extra weight of the Kaffenback probably isn't hugely relevant given its intended use??

Smiffo100

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19639600#p19639600]Garnett[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19637224#p19637224]Smiffo100[/url] wrote:

What do people think to the bike who have had Shimano previously? I'm currently debating whether to splash out an additional £100 on a full 105 build...

My other bike is 105. Would you be going hydraulic?

For me the sram hydraulic discs are a revelation. Combined with the big tyres braking is much better.

The Sram gearing works well and seems precise and quiet. Until you change gear. It's a proper "kerrr - chunk". It surprised me coming from the "snick-snick-snick" of 105.

I have read that Shimano's hydraulics are the best.

If you can build this around Shimano hydraulics and 105 for £100 more I would definitely do that.

Wasn't intending going hydraulic, as rim brakes have sufficed for me in the past on a roadie, but then how are people getting on with mechanical discs on the London Road?

The 105 build i mentioned was £100 on top of the list price to build a custom spec, and it was with shimano mechanical discs.

Hoping to get to one of their shops on either Sunday or Weds to have a proper look at the bike and make sure i like the Zesty colour in the metal, though still not sure whether i should stick with SRAM, pay £100 more for mechanical disc 105, or go with the £999 option?! (Half of my thinking backing up the 105 build is that i won't feel as gutted if they suddenly put the SRAM models in a sale!)

ryanshattered

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19647485#p19647485]PhilPub[/url] wrote:

OK, now Planet X are confusing me by knocking out Kaffenbacks at a ridiculous price! (650 quid for SRAM Apex/AVID BB7 mechanical disc build.) Considering I ride steel for my Sunday best ride and I want a second bike as a winter/tourer which might get thrown around a bit, are there still any obvious reasons why the London Road is a better option? I can't see a massive difference between SRAM Rival and Apex, and the extra weight of the Kaffenback probably isn't hugely relevant given its intended use??

I suppose the biggest limitation for the Kaffenback, in comparison the LR, is that it only has clearance for 32mm tyres. That may or may not be an issue for you.
Regarding the groupset, I think there is quite a big step up in technology from Apex to Rival 22. From what I've read, Rival 22 is mechanically the same as Force 22 and Red 22, whereas I don't believe Apex has anything passed down from those high end groupsets. I'm sure Apex is very good kit though nonetheless.

PhilPub

Thanks, that's sort of backing up my Kaffenback plans. Clearance isn't an issue as I don't intend to use it off-road, so 28/32c is likely as large as I'd want to go and I've seen builds with mudguards and reasonably chunky tyres. I'm sure Apex will do the job. And I like steel.

Smiffo100

Does anyone know what the narrowest tyres you can fit on the stock rims is? I've asked on the PX Facebook chat, and they're not sure but stated that the £80 PX upgrade CX rims are 25mm wide, so 25s could go on them, and maybe 28/32s as intended to use in winter

Adamgt

I had this conversation with them and 28mm is the minimum as they are 19mm internal width.

rob13

Having just been recommended one of these as a do it all machine, I'm thinking of selling my Kinesis Racelight T2 which isn't getting much use to fund it. The Racelight is Tiagra/105 mix obviously with rim brakes.
As I want to stick with Shimano, could I use the finishing kit off the Kinesis, swapping only the Rim brakes for discs and new disc wheels? The Kinesis is probably worth about £400 as it stands and I've only recently added some new kit to it.

graeme_s-2

Made the mistake today of pulling the front brakes on while the front wheel was off. This of course left the pads too close together to get the front wheel back on. I prised the pads apart, ultimately using the flat of a butter knife to get them wide enough apart that they didn't rub on the disc once the wheel was back in. I then gave the front brake a pull and span the wheel again and they're rubbing again now.

What do I do to resolve this?

NeXXus

Undo the caliper bolts, hold the brake on, tighten the caliper bolts

graeme_s-2

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19649531#p19649531]NeXXus[/url] wrote:

Undo the caliper bolts, hold the brake on, tighten the caliper bolts

Also saw a little GCN YouTube vid on rubbing hydraulic discs on mountain bikes which suggested the same fix.

I slackened off the bolts, pulled the brake on and tightened them back up. Let go of the brake lever and gave the wheel a spin. It was better, but still rubbing slightly on maybe a quarter of the wheel rotation. The video I watched suggested it might take a couple of tries to resolve the rubbing, so I tried repeating the procedure two more times, but it seemed to get worse each time, culminating in a "clack-clack-clack" sound all the way round the wheel rotation the 3rd time.

I took the wheel out and prised the pads apart again, then put it back in and repeated the calliper loosening procedure which left me back where I was after my first attempt, with it rubbing very lightly round a small part of the wheel revolution.

Any tips on how to eliminate this last bit of rubbing?

apreading

That technique almost never works for me ( with hydraulics anyway). I find that the torque of tightening the bolts twists the caliper out of its natural position just slightly, despite the brakes being on and tensioned at the time. I just do it by sight, look how turning the bolts moves the caliper, and then before you start tightening hold it slightly further off to the other side, so that the end result is the same gap either side of the rotor. Plus do the bolts gradually, alternating between one and the other.

NeXXus

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19649592#p19649592]Graeme_S[/url] wrote:

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19649531#p19649531]NeXXus[/url] wrote:

Undo the caliper bolts, hold the brake on, tighten the caliper bolts

Also saw a little GCN YouTube vid on rubbing hydraulic discs on mountain bikes which suggested the same fix.

I slackened off the bolts, pulled the brake on and tightened them back up. Let go of the brake lever and gave the wheel a spin. It was better, but still rubbing slightly on maybe a quarter of the wheel rotation. The video I watched suggested it might take a couple of tries to resolve the rubbing, so I tried repeating the procedure two more times, but it seemed to get worse each time, culminating in a "clack-clack-clack" sound all the way round the wheel rotation the 3rd time.

I took the wheel out and prised the pads apart again, then put it back in and repeated the calliper loosening procedure which left me back where I was after my first attempt, with it rubbing very lightly round a small part of the wheel revolution.

Any tips on how to eliminate this last bit of rubbing?

It may just be a touch of uneven pad wear or slightly bent disc

graeme_s-2

Can't see that the disc could be bent (unless it's a manufacturing defect) nothing but the pads have touched it while it's been in my possession and it didn't rub before.

Rode it into work in the rain this morning. Braking performance outstanding in the wet, didn't notice the rubbing, but the front brake squealed like a stuck pig every time I braked hard (it didn't do that prior to my cack handed fettling).

MountainMonster

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19649940#p19649940]Graeme_S[/url] wrote:

Can't see that the disc could be bent (unless it's a manufacturing defect) nothing but the pads have touched it while it's been in my possession and it didn't rub before.

Rode it into work in the rain this morning. Braking performance outstanding in the wet, didn't notice the rubbing, but the front brake squealed like a stuck pig every time I braked hard (it didn't do that prior to my cack handed fettling).

Whoops, quoted the wrong bit. Try adjusthing the pads ever so slightly to give it a slightly firmer squeeze, and run over the disc with some brake cleaner. Worked for me pretty well.

graeme_s-2

Might give the disc a go with some brake cleaner.

So I fettled them on Sunday night and haven't attempted to adjust them since.

Monday morning it was raining and the brakes squealed like hell
Monday evening it was dry, the brakes gave a loud squeal as I braked at the end of the drive to my office, and were completely silent the rest of the way home, even when I braked hard from 20+ mph at the foot of a hill
Tuesday morning it was raining and the brakes squealed all the way into work
Tuesday evening the roads were wet, but it was only raining very lightly, and the brakes were silent
Wednesday morning - damp roads, not much spray, not raining, silent brakes.

Be interesting to see whether the noise returns next time it rains.

MountainMonster

Glad to hear it is slowly getting better. I had to adjust mine quite a few times to get them working well and squeak free.

I suspect a large part of it is the pads that are used. Once mine wear out i'm going to replace them with another type, still TBD, and that should work.

graeme_s-2

Looking at mud guards for commuting duty. SKS P45s seem to be the way to go - question now is black, or silver? The finishing kit is all black, but I've had two black framed bikes with mudguards before. One with silver guards and one with black, and the silver always looked a bit lighter to me and I've preferred it. What do people think (and what colour have other zesty lime owners gone for?)

redvee

I'm very close to buying a frameset, trouble is I want the zesty lime but not at £300, only the silver is £200. I might have to bite the bullet and pay it.